“SUMMER WITNESSING”
“but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
Acts 1:8
By the grace of Almighty God and the power of the Holy Spirit who has come upon us, Light the World has had a very successful summer thus far in 2009 in getting the gospel out to the Hanover/Gettysburg PA area.
Not only were we blessed to meet new brothers and sisters in Christ, but we got to see new people either share or hand out gospel tracts for the very first time. I always get excited when I see someone hand out tracts with a sweaty shaky hand. I know how they feel – both nervous and joyful in serving their Lord.
I praise God for the many opportunities we had to explain to people why it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations (Luke 24:46-47), and that Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead (Acts 17:30-31). This is our message. Don’t let the enemy fool you even if he comes in the name of Christ. Remember he is a dangerous serpent.
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.” Ephesians 6:10-11
“Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me. For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.” 2 Corinthians 11:1-4
Many in the church of Corinth were being deceived by false apostles who commended themselves but were never sanctioned by the Lord of Glory. By the accepting of these false Christians, the church put themselves under the threat of bogus teaching. With a deep love for both God’s people and God’s very reputation, Paul zealously expresses his concern for the churches spiritual purity and holiness. He was jealous for them with a godly jealousy to present them as a chaste or pure virgin to Christ.
“Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” Revelation 14:7
Are you ready to meet your Husband?
What are you doing to keep yourself pure?
Paul feared that many in the church at Corinth were not ready. Like Eve they were falling from the simplicity that is in Christ for satanic lies. Having their minds corrupted they were falling prey to the craftiness of the devil.
“4And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die… 13And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat” Genesis 3:4, 13
“You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” John 8:44
As in Paul’s day, false teachers have crept into today’s church unnoticed. They are deceptively preaching “another Jesus” and a “different gospel”. Unfortunately like the Corinthians we have well put up with it for far too long.
Jesus has told us plainly in Matthew 28:18-20 that under God’s authority we are to go through life and teach the gospel to all people through preaching or proclaiming its message, as well as baptize those whom claim Christ and teach the principles and commands of God’s Word. This is what Light the World is all about. This is what the church is all about. Do not be deceived beloved. We proclaim a message of good news yet the good news is a very offensive and scandalous message.
Just because our message is offensive doesn’t mean we have to present it offensively. However, we must realize that if we make any attempt to take the offense and scandal out of the message we mutilate the gospel and will be no better than the false teachers at Corinth.
“But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!” Galatians 1:8-9
There are many false teachers today!!!
“But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron,” 1 Timothy 4:1-2
“But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.” 2 Timothy 3:1-5
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.” 2 Timothy 4:3-4
Jesus said that we will know them by their fruit.
“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?” Matthew 7:15-16
Not only will we be able to recognize them by their character but also by their conduct. That is by what they do and what they teach over the long hall of their ministry.
“So then, you will know them by their fruits.” Matthew 7:20
“Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.” James 3:12
One of the hardest false teachings to spot is that which either waters down parts of the gospel or completely leaves vital components out. A partial message is a very dangerous message.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.” Matthew 23:15
It is Light the World’s mission and pleasure to preach the true message to as many people as we can for the glory of God, fully knowing that when we get to Heaven it will not be because of one person we witnessed to or one tract we made or handed out, but rather solely on the merits of Jesus Christ alone. We only seek to honor and glorify Him by obeying His commands.
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9
“He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”” John 14:21
Its been said that the easiest way to spot a fake is to be thoroughly familiar with the real thing. Seek the Lord in desperate prayer for greater understanding of what He has done for you in His Son. Be suspicious of those who do not preach a message that is similar to this…
All men have rebelled against God and deserve His wrath. But God, in His loving-kindness and for His own glory sent His Son Jesus Christ to be mans sin bearer. Jesus Christ bore the guilt of His people and died in their place thus satisfying the justice and fierce anger of God which was against them every day. He rose on the third day, ascended into heaven, and is coming again to judge the world in righteousness. God can forgive and declare the sinner “just” if they repent and in faith surrender their lives to follow Jesus Christ as Master.
Go light the world…
In Him,
Miles